Stephanie Lazarus: LAPD detective found guilty of brutal 1986 killing of love rival who married her ex-boyfriend

Mike Gallagher

Mar 8, 2012 - 17:36

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Stephanie Lazarus: LAPD detective found guilty of brutal 1986 killing of love rival who married her ex-boyfriend

Shock: Stephanie Lazarus (right) listens as she is found guilty of first-degree murder in Los Angeles today as her attorney Mark Overland (left) turns away

A former Los Angeles police detective was found guilty today of the 26-year-old murder of the wife of her former lover in a case that hinged on a single piece of evidence - DNA from a bite mark on the victim's arm.

Stephanie Lazarus, 51, of Los Angeles, beat and shot dead Sherri Rasmussen, 29, in February 1986 after her lover John Reutten wed the hospital nursing director instead of her.

The first-degree murder conviction came after a three-week trial that included testimony from a forensic expert who said the DNA was a match to defendant Lazarus.

Shattered: Lazarus's attoey lays a hand on her back after she is found guilty today of killing the wife of her former lover Sherri Rasmussen

Her defense attoey countered that the DNA was packaged improperly and deteriorated while stored in a coroner's freezer for two decades. He also suggested there might have been evidence tampering.

The case was submitted to jurors on Tuesday after intense closing arguments by both sides. After a day and a half of deliberation, the panel of eight women and four men delivered its decision.

Victim Sherri Rasmussen was bludgeoned and shot to death in 1986 in the condo she shared with her husband of three months.